The long-deployed USS Lincoln returns home to San Diego Bay

(AP) — The USS Abraham Lincoln returned home to San Diego Bay Thursday after supporting the Iran war during a record long deployment of 265 uninterrupted days at sea that included reports of deteriorating conditions among its crew.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew out to the carrier on Wednesday to give the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor a unit can receive that is typically reserved for significant achievement in combat.Hegseth pushed back against what he said were efforts to turn the “Lincoln into some sort of a symbol, a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission.”The carrier drew national attention following reports of stress among the crew and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products, during its Iran war mission.Families and loved ones of the crew arrived hours ahead of the carrier’s arrival Thursday, waiting in line to get on the naval base in Coronado near San Diego. Among the first to depart once the ship docks will be 64 fathers meeting theirs babies for the first time, the Navy said.Waiting for the Lincoln to bring her husband home, sailor Kathy Monterrosa held her six-month-old daughter, Sarahi, outfitted in a tiny blue and white sailor dress.“She’s our deployment baby,” said Monterrosa, of Virginia Beach, Virginia.“We are different people now; we are parents now,” she said. “We definitely matured from the last time we saw each other.”It was tough to hear about the ship’s conditions while she was pregnant, she said.

I wasn’t sure if he was OK or not,” she said.When she finally heard from her husband, he told her it was “pretty bad.”Alma Solano Velez said her husband gave his family an extensive list of the foods he has been craving over the past 10 months: oxtail, barbecue chicken, broccoli, and shrimp empanadas to name a few.He had told his wife about “the lack of food and showers” on board and was looking forward to seeing their daughter, who turned 4 while he was away, she said.The Navy initially downplayed problems on the carrierThe Navy initially downplayed any problems during the deployment, and President Donald Trump commented in August that the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment was “not nearly long enough.”Hegseth told the crew that “what makes the U.S.